Jaguars expect physical test

He sees progress in practice of the Jaguars being a more physical, tough team on both sides of the ball, but that's just practice.

"We've got a chance to prove that," Del Rio said. "We can talk about it all you want. We get a chance to prove it."

A major test will come tonight against the Miami Dolphins in the Jaguars' second preseason game. The Jaguars will face a bruising team that has pounded them physically in the past. In a game that will feature starters playing for two full quarters or longer, with the Jaguars recovering the services of some key linemen, tonight's contest will serve as a gauge.

"Miami comes in here with a very physical team," Del Rio said. "They run it as well as anybody in the league. It'd be a little bit of a barometer in terms of where we are with our front how we stack up against them in the ballgame."

Defensive tackle Tyson Alualu, who missed most of training camp with a calf injury, defensive end Aaron Kampman, who sat out many practices as a precaution for his knee, and offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, who sprained his knee during training camp, are expected to play for the Jaguars. All three will start during the season and none of them played in Jacksonville's preseason opener.

Running back Maurice Jones-Drew expects more carries tonight -- he had two against the Eagles last week.

It'll combine to give a clearer picture of how the first-team offense and defense might actually look. The Jaguars want to see improvement from last week's game on both sides. While the first-team offense managed only one first down in three series, the first-team defense allowed Philadelphia's offense to glide down the field.

The performance landed the Jaguars on the wrong end of three Top-10 plays on ESPN's SportsCenter.

After the game, Del Rio reminded his team that an even more physically bruising challenge laid ahead of them.

"I just know as you watch ball across the league that Tony (Sparano) has done a nice job," Del Rio said. "They've built a physical team. Bill Parcells, the coach, they've always liked physical football players. They've invested heavily in their offensive and defensive lines."

The last matchup between the teams, a regular season game last season, ended with a sack on Jaguars quarterback David Garrard. It was the third time the Dolphins sacked him that afternoon. Miami's defense also held Jones-Drew to just 59 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, with defensive lineman John Henderson missing for the Jaguars, the Dolphins pounded the ball up the middle and Ricky Williams ran for 108 yards. Dolphins' quarterback Chad Henne also excelled, setting a team record for consecutive completions in a game with 17.

In a preseason game in 2008, the season after the Dolphins went 1-15, the Jaguars again struggled to run the ball, Williams picked up 43 yards on just 10 carries and the Dolphins quarterbacks shined again.

Past performance might not predict future performance, but the pattern is something the Jaguars want to reverse.

"We're pretty physical ourselves," Jones-Drew said. "This year, our take on it is not what they do but what we're going to take to the game. We have to go out there and pretty much dominate the line of scrimmage, do our scheme and our game the way we want to on both sides of the ball."

Against a team that's made that difficult for the Jaguars in the past, they'll get a real test.

"If you play certain teams you know it's going to be physical," Del Rio said. "We were once known as that; we'll be back in that conversation shortly."